Finding Me in the Storm (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

Chapter Two

Nate

I try to go to bed; after an hour of tossing and turning, I decide that isn’t happening. I’ve had little interaction with the woman I just pulled out of a snowbank. It seems I’ll be stuck with her until this storm passes. I know Elaina is normally a stick in the mud, with her head in a book studying. That is how my sister once described her best friend to me. Of course, she had meant it endearingly, as it is the opposite of my fun-loving, carefree sister Luna, and I think that’s how they balance each other out. On the other hand, I have a feeling she’s going to be nothing but trouble for me.

Deciding that maybe a glass of cold water might settle me, I swing my legs out of bed. There is no sleep forthcoming, so I head to the door and open it wide.

“Hey,” I mutter.

Elaina is sitting on the sofa with a huge mug in her hand, staring into the fire. She has this serene look on her face as I quickly take in her auburn hair, showing highlights of red in the fire’s glow. Her face is slim and fair, her hair swept into a messy bun on the top of her head, and no makeup as she moves her gaze to mine. The woman is a knockout. As that thought hits my brain, my body paralyzes for a moment. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to be attracted to Doctor Know It All, as I like to refer to her—mostly because it riles her. The emotional response colors her cheeks and makes our interactions a bit more interesting.

“Hey,” she says quickly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I raided the fridge and whipped up some hot cocoa.”

“Wow. I only brought just a couple of things, assuming Luna would want to grocery shop today,” I respond. “Was there enough for me?”

“Yep.” She nods. “Consider it a peace offering of sorts.”

I give a light laugh. “What could the two of us possibly need a peace offering for?”

“Really?” She rolls an eye in my direction. “You are the biggest thorn in my side. Every time we are in the same zip code, we bicker like I imagine I would have with an annoying little brother. I know that you don’t like me and use names such as Dr. Know It All to frustrate me. Oh, and we both got hoodwinked into somehow managing to not kill each other in a shared space, alone, in a blizzard. That situation should cause no tension or stress.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. She pretty much perfectly nailed our interactions.

“This is not the box mix kind of cocoa. How did you manage this?” I question, not yet prepared to discuss our personal interactions.

“I have a genuine issue with tea and cocoa. I sort of travel with a little bag of my own recipes,” she tells me.

I dump a spoonful of mix into my mug and add some hot water before heading towards the plush oversized chair to the right of the sofa. Blowing on the hot drink, I finally take a sip.

“Oh my,” I groan. “That might be the best cup of hot cocoa I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks.” She smiles at me, and this weird little jumpy feeling invades my stomach. “When you work the hours I’ve had to, you really take pleasure in the little things. The perfect cup of tea or hot cocoa for a successful save of a patient. It’s sometimes all you get in the middle of a rough day.”

“I guess I haven’t thought of that. Luna, in passing, told me that you were nearing the end of your residency; how many hours did that require?” I ask, genuinely curious as that world is super foreign to anything I’ve done for work.

“There were a lot of double shifts and eighty-hour-plus weeks over the past three years. My personal life was limited to my residency, and as for my social life, it was pretty much just hanging with Luna in order to focus all my attention on this goal.” She says.

“Do the little snippy comments you make at people come from the stress?” I question.

Part of me wants to get a rise out of her, and I’m curious why we spark off each other. It would seem that, given her massively impressive career, she has to have the patience of “Job.” Why, then, the second we even move within speaking distance of each other, do we argue about…everything?

“No,” she replies with a deep sigh. “I honestly have the best rankings with patients. I am patient with my friends and the little extended family I have around me. You seem to be the only person who brings out all my ill-conceived biases and snarks.”

“You know I normally have a very different reaction with women,” I tease, giving her a lopsided smile.

“Oh, I have no doubt. Those dimples and know-it-all smile are a lethal combination. I just don’t enjoy following the crowd, I guess.”

“Fair enough,” I confirm. “I think for this brief detour from our regular lives, we need to call a ceasefire on our interactions. Not trusting each other and our constant bickering is going to make this unbearable. I have to believe we can both pull out all the good manners we have been taught and at least fake our way to being kind until the blizzard clears. What do you say?”

She turns to me, and our eyes connect for a moment.

“I’ve had a really rough finish to my residency,” Elaina finally says after a tension-filled pause passes between us. “Your sister has always been such a rock of support for me. I didn’t even second-guess her when she told me about this vacation. I will agree that she probably thought this would be fun for me, so I will be kind and considerate and watch my snide comments until the snow passes. Then, hopefully I can maybe stay at the resort until I can head home. I really have a lot of things I need to consider, so taking a moment away from it all, I feel, would be good.”

“Do you have a job to go back to at a given time?” I ask her.

She bites hard on the bottom of her lip. It is an adorable expression that squishes up her face, but one that tells me Luna might not have sent her here just for skiing and hot cocoa in front of the fire. I suspect my sister might be playing matchmaker. The thought of me falling for Elaina, though, seems a stretch even for my overly optimistic sister.

“I haven’t accepted a new role yet. I’ve been considering other places than Chicago. I’m conflicted about what position I will choose, but now that I’m at a point where I can basically choose my own path, I’m struggling a lot with what I really want. I have worked in pediatrics, sports medicine, and also surgery specialties. I need to spend some quiet time figuring out what might make me happy and not just push my career forward. Does that make sense?”

“Actually, it does,” I respond. “I don’t know how much Luna told you about me, but I did a fair amount of modeling. It was a way to see the world after high school, and I loved the work—for a while.”

“She and you have brought it up more than a couple of times,” Elaina says and immediately reddens. “Okay, it might take me a minute or two to stop the comebacks.”

“Understood.” I chuckle. “What I haven’t shared before is that there was a lot about that world—like yours, it sounds like—that didn’t fit with what I wanted for my future. I quickly became worn out and needed to have a long contemplation about my future. So, I might have bought a ski resort, and then last year bought this property near said ski resort to encourage family to visit me.”

“Wait! You own Mountain Haven Resort?”

I nod.

“Oh, Luna knew exactly what she was doing. I’m so going to have a long chat with my so-called bestie when cell phone service is restored.”

“I will say I love it out here. The people, the community, and the work fit with me better than modeling ever did. Maybe Luna thought this amazing place would give you a break to find your path as well. As much as my sister tries to tell me about you, I have to believe her intentions were good. Though, I promise I’m never trusting her with vacation plans again after this,” I finish with a sarcastic tone.

“Agreed,” Elaina adds with a little laugh.

We sip our drinks in silence for a bit. Finally, Elaina stands up.

“I think that drink and jet lag did the trick,” she says with a droopy-eyed look. “Thank you for being a good sport about me being here. I promise not to be as disruptive throughout my entire visit. Also, I will treat you more as a friend than a foe moving forward, as you basically are ensuring I don’t freeze to death outside. I guess I sort of owe you.”

“It’s all good,” I tell her with a chuckle. “Night.”

“Night.”

I watch her walk to the kitchen and put the mug in the sink. Then she heads to bed with a light glance over her shoulder. I find myself smiling into the fire. Elaina might be a bit serious, but I don’t believe this experience is going to be as uneventful as I thought at first. I guess we go with it for now and hope for the best. Worst-case scenario: it’s a day or two—how much can happen in that amount of time?